Best Places In The World To Retire

My father-in-law, who is from Veracruz, has an apartment in Mexico City that I still go to. I also have relatives in Monterey where I would spend 2 or 3 weeks at a time, and then come back to Ajijic.

 

The best place in Mexico to live and retire is Ajijic, but I also love Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. San Miguel de Allende belongs to a different price bracket. Guanajuato on the other hand is spectacular and you can go there and live relatively...

My father-in-law, who is from Veracruz, has an apartment in Mexico City that I still go to. I also have relatives in Monterey where I would spend 2 or 3 weeks at a time, and then come back to Ajijic.

 

The best place in Mexico to live and retire is Ajijic, but I also love Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. San Miguel de Allende belongs to a different price bracket. Guanajuato on the other hand is spectacular and you can go there and live relatively inexpensively with a lot more of the Mexican culture than you would find in this area. I love Guanajuato. 

 

I’ve also spent time in Mexico City and Monterrey, but I don’t think I would want to live there. If I had a lot of money, I’d love to live in Mexico City because of the culture, the theaters, and the restaurants. I love going to Mexico City, but you have to understand how to live there, plus living there costs a lot more. If I was a wealthy guy and could afford an apartment in Mexico City, I’d love to live there.

 

Guanajuato is a romantic place. It’s still set back in time and it has a lot of culture and history. Lake Chapala has a lot of towns and there are a lot of things that happened here, like the Spaniards trying to take over the area in the past. When it comes to architecture, places like San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato are well above Chapala and Ajijic. 

 

In the 1900’s to the 1920’s, all the wealthy people went to Chapala instead of going to Acapulco. According to history, the wealthy Europeans and Mexicans who came to Chapala built some beautiful homes and mansions here. You don’t necessarily see them unless you’re walking along the lake shore which is hard to do depending on the lake level. There are some spectacular homes around Lake Chapala. 

 

Over the years, Ajijic has had more North American values than Chapala. Out of every 20 sales that I make, 19 are in Ajijic, and one of them is in Chapala, and that’s for those who can afford the big, old classic homes that are there. Chapala is an interesting place if you really know about its history.  

 

(Resort- like home, near Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico, pictured.)

The ecotourism in Ambergris Caye is alive and thriving but of course people are always looking for better ways to recycle more and reduce. For the most part, we don’t have a lot of options because are seasonal. In the dry season, the only option is to conserve water. You cannot run taps endlessly and waste water. The people who provide lodging and the people who provide services here in Ambergris Caye are very conscious about that. For the most part, people set themselves up to...

The ecotourism in Ambergris Caye is alive and thriving but of course people are always looking for better ways to recycle more and reduce. For the most part, we don’t have a lot of options because are seasonal. In the dry season, the only option is to conserve water. You cannot run taps endlessly and waste water. The people who provide lodging and the people who provide services here in Ambergris Caye are very conscious about that. For the most part, people set themselves up to conserve whether it be through cisterns for their water, solar panels for their roofs, or by just reducing their garbage because everything costs money.

 

Some resorts are getting “Green Globe” certified and that is a pretty exciting move. Belize is getting recognized as having globe-certified resorts so we are in the right direction.

 

There are a lot of non-self invasive sports that you can do in Ambergris Caye. We have self-propelled sports, such as kayaking, sailing, wind surfing, or stand up paddle boarding. We also have bird watching and even a crocodile observation tour, which is led by biologists. There are many activities here in Ambergris Caye that are eco-focused and the people are very  conscious of minimizing the impact of these activities to the environment as best as possible.

Nicaragua is still a very poor country and there are numerous opportunities to contribute—medically, sponsoring, education, veterinary, animals, schooling, English teaching or helping with English; so many opportunities to help and contribute.  Nobody would have a problem leveraging their own skills.

 

I was involved in helping get started a women’s cooperative for making jams, jellies, and preserves called Condimentos del Carirzal...

Nicaragua is still a very poor country and there are numerous opportunities to contribute—medically, sponsoring, education, veterinary, animals, schooling, English teaching or helping with English; so many opportunities to help and contribute.  Nobody would have a problem leveraging their own skills.

 

I was involved in helping get started a women’s cooperative for making jams, jellies, and preserves called Condimentos del Carirzal that’s done so well that now they don’t need us.  It was sponsored by the Rotary Club. We have a Rotary club now in San Juan del Sur that made connections with other Rotary clubs elsewhere in the world and in North America predominantly. Through Rotary there are a number of projects they sponsored.  I was involved in getting one going with the Rotary club in Guelph South (where I used to live in Canada) that was superbly supportive and raised money to help these ladies get going with their business. They haven’t needed any help for the last 2 or 3 years and they’re making gourmet jams and selling them to tourists. They’re doing very, very well. It’s a huge success that most people in San Juan are aware of. The ladies there are lifting themselves out of poverty and helping to put their kids through higher education. It’s a great story. There are lots of opportunities for that kind of thing. 

 

That group of wonderful people in Guelph raised US $15,000 to support the construction of the ladies’ kitchen. The ladies got to the point where they were really good and consistent with their recipes.  They received help from Marilyn Rootham in Guelph, of Rootham’s Gourmet Preserves. She was excellent. She came down to Nicaragua and taught these ladies how to make gourmet jams and jellies. Marilyn Rootham sells product all across Canada and into the US.  She was supremely helpful along with the Guelph staff.  After 5 years of support they raised I think $12,500 and we added a bit more, which was enough money to build them an industrial kitchen with the equipment and supplies to get them the health certificate they needed from the ministry so that they can continue to grow and export their jams and jellies. They’re doing really, really well.  

 

(Condimentos del Carrizal, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, pictured.) 

In order to have a gun in Portugal, you have to have a license.  Foreigners can own guns in Portugal.  

 

Most of the people who have guns in Portugal, and how gun ownership started is that the guns were for hunters for the hunting season, but there are very strict rules for that. 

 

The actual details of what would be required to get a license to have a gun and what it would cost, I don’t know. The reason...

In order to have a gun in Portugal, you have to have a license.  Foreigners can own guns in Portugal.  

 

Most of the people who have guns in Portugal, and how gun ownership started is that the guns were for hunters for the hunting season, but there are very strict rules for that. 

 

The actual details of what would be required to get a license to have a gun and what it would cost, I don’t know. The reason is we don’t really discuss guns very much apart from if you see on television that they’ve arrested people because of drugs or something similar.  Apart from that, fortunately, at this point in time, I think when you see what’s going on in the world, we feel reasonably safe without guns. 

 

(1934 photo of a  hunter in Peralcovo, Portugal, pictured.)